• Cameron and Putin agreed hat they both want to find a "diplomatic solution" to the situation in Ukraine.

• Putin said he would discuss the proposals on the contact group with Lavrov on Monday.

• The two leaders also discussed the economic challenges facing Ukraine.

LONDON, March 9 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister David Cameron and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday agreed in a phone call that they both want to find a "diplomatic solution" to the situation in Ukraine, a Downing Street spokesperson said Sunday.

"The Prime Minister made clear that we, along with our European and American partners, want to work with Russia to find a diplomatic solution to the situation in Ukraine, including Crimea," the spokesperson said in a statement.

"President Putin agreed that it is in all our interests to have a stable Ukraine. He said that Russia did want to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis," the spokesperson stated.

In the phone call, Cameron also urged Putin to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine and to support the formation of a "contact group" that could lead to what Britain described as "direct talks between the governments of Russia and Ukraine," according to the spokesperson.

Putin said he would discuss the proposals on the contact group with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday, the spokesperson noted.

The two leaders also discussed the economic challenges facing Ukraine and agreed that the international community would need to provide financial support in the months ahead, added the spokesperson.

Confronting the Ukraine crisis, a mission from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), including two monitors from Albania, were sent to Crimea on Sunday, a press release on Albanian Council of Ministers website reads.

Upon the request of Ukraine and in accordance with the Vienna document's Chapter III on faith and security building measures, this mission is made up of 25 OSCE member countries, including the U.S., European countries and representatives of Conflict Prevention Centre.

MOSCOW, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Russian, British and German leaders have expressed their common interest in de-escalation of tensions in Ukraine despite existing dissent, the Kremlin press service said Sunday.

"(Russian President Vladimir) Putin, (British Prime Minister David) Cameron and (German Chancellor Angela) Merkel continued the discussion of an extremely complicated sociopolitical situation in Ukraine, as well as Crimea's referendum, set for March 16," it said. Full story

MOSCOW, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Russia said Saturday it was willing to continue dialogue with the current Ukrainian authorities, while western countries were abuzz over forming alliance against Russia and threatening to resort to sanctions.

"We are ready to continue the dialogue on the understanding that the dialogue must be honest, partnership-like, without attempts to show us almost as a party to the conflict," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. Full story

"We are trying to use every diplomatic opportunity to bring Russia and Ukraine into direct contact with each other at a senior level to make sure that the governments of Russia and Ukraine are talking to each other," Hague said at a press conference.Full story

"The Budapest Memorandum sets out the obligations of signatories in return for Ukraine giving up its nuclear weapons," John Kerry, William Hague and Andriy Deshchytsia said in a joint statement while meeting in Paris Wednesday. Full story